D&D Short Stories

Outburst (Part 1)

Mary: Gunslinger vampire hunter, believed "Batibat"   was a vampire when he wasn't, and is now living with him doing chores around his mansion.

"Batibat" (Nickname): A half elf man who has the appearance of a vampire. He had sent Mary and her party on a job, which is how he met her.

•••

Although Mary knew he looked a bit tense today, she hadn't thought about why. Instead she selfishly thought of how to get his attention, like she'd been doing. Not that she consciously made the decision to ignore his problems and make him turn his gaze her way; it just felt right to do so now.

Her actions weren't selfish to her, and to someone with a sympathetic eye it wouldn't be either. The hard priestesses who trained her never gave her the patience and time he'd given her with her outbursts. The crude old women never looked at her softly, or spoke to her as their equal. He gave these luxuries to her without even knowing he had done it, but they meant the world to her.

For once she didn't have to feel ashamed of making a mistake, or feel as if her only purpose was to be a weapon. A crude bad cop of justice with no exceptions.

But she didn't think to return these gestures because, well, she doesn't know any better. If you've been showed nothing but crudeness, how can you learn kindness?

These thoughts hadn't occurred to her as she entered his study, arms crossed and glaring at his back. Her heart raced but she ignored it. They told her to ignore her emotions, she should not feel sympathy for the target. They deserve no sympathy.

"...What do you want?" Came his voice, a bit harsher than she had heard before. Her stance faltered, but she regained her composure.

"I was here to... to help with your study. Shelf books and... all that." Her arms slowly unraveled from her tense posture, sensing something wrong.

"I don't need help. Leave." He's spoken without facing her before, but this felt different. His tone was laced with taught irritation.

"No," was all her brain could produce.

He turned his head slightly in her direction, his face was still obscured but his hair, "are you stupid, Mary?" Her footing faltered as if she was shoved. "I said get out."

Feeling a heat rise in her chest, she defiantly said, "no, you said leave, Batibat."

He stood straight and turned, his eyebrows knitted in a mess of anger. His mouth was a deep frown, and his eyes could slice metal as he walked slowly over to Mary, "this is my study. This is my home. Although I know how irritatingly daft you can be, surely you're not enough of a moron to disregard something so easy to understand."

As he gets closer Mary steps back, "but I'm asking too much of you, aren't I? Your knowledge is as large as your breasts. It shouldn't take you more than one try to figure out what that means, should it, Mary?" Her eyes filled with tears as her chest started to become tight and painful. "But what should I expect from an ignorant, orphan girl like you?"

She gasped, and at that moment he had realised how far he had gone. His fists were clenched by his sides, and he had her backed against a wall. She slumped down to the floor and hugged herself tightly, tears rolling from her eyes without a sound. Her chest was tight with pain as she whispered, "I'm sorry."

The only thing that made her feel human ripped her to pieces, and it was her fault. She should have left when she heard his first warning.

He backed up a bit as his face fell with despair. Never in his life had his emotions been flung out against his will before, especially not on someone so helpless to his words. She got up slowly and he could see she was crying, but he was frozen. Her normal furrowed brow was as broken as her eyes.

"Mary..." he started, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything else. Nothing could undo the damage he brought her, and that killed him. So he let her go. She disappeared through the study doors and down the hall, where he heard a far away closing of her bedroom door.

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, squeezing his eyes closed. He had to make this right.